Wolf E L, Frager J, Brandt L J, Frager D H, Bernstein L H, Beneventano T C
AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1986 Mar;146(3):519-22. doi: 10.2214/ajr.146.3.519.
Nd:YAG laser therapy is an attractive palliative treatment for carcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia. Twenty-five patients with these tumors underwent laser therapy over a 2-year period, receiving a total of 52 courses of therapy with 189 treatments. Treatments per course averaged 3.6, with a mean of two courses per patient. Luminal diameter is increased with this method; symptomatic improvement in dysphagia occurred in all patients after one course of therapy. Radiographic improvement also is seen. The complication rate in this series was four (2.1%) of 189 procedures, consisting of one perforation, one tracheoesophageal fistula, one pneumopericardium, and one pneumoperitoneum without leak.
